Tubular fabric feeding and rolling machine



Nov. 12, 1957 E. s. BEARD 2,812,568

TUBULAR FABRIC FEEDING AND ROLLING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug.16, 1956 STORED ROLL Edward .5. Beard INVENTOR.

Fig.

TUBULAR FABRIC Nov. 12, 1957 E. s. BEARD I 2,812,568

TUBULAR FABRIC FEEDING AND ROLLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 16. 1956 4Sheets-Sheet 2 TUBULAR FABRIC FEEDING AND ROLLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 16,1956 E. S. BEARD Nov. 12, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 mm w m IN VEN TOR.

E dward .S. Beard 3 MN 9 mm Q9 3: M H mm 9 vm mm m& M .M m mu m mm E m3wm mm f a l. I um mg tab 1 w! Nov. 12, 1957 2,812,568

TUBULAR FABRIC FEEDING AND ROLLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 16. 1956 E. sBEARD 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 an W a mw w mm m m 3 Pfw. H an S vm. 0 w r E m ZE m o9 mm m9 mm MN NM TUBULAR FABRIC FEEDING AND ROLLING MACHINE EdwardS. Beard, Spring City, Pa.

Application August 16, 1956,Serial No. 604,496

8 Claims. (CI. 26-55) The present invention relates to certain new anduseful improvements in a motorized :machine in which a stationaly framestructure isequipped twith expedient facilities adapted for use duringthe handling of tubular knitted fabrics and has reference tostructurally novel means enabling the user to spread, flatten, stretchto desired widths and to apply weighting, sizing for finishing and tothereafter roll the thus handled fabric.

Machines for feeding tubular fabric and subjecting it to the widthgoverning action of mechanical spreader means-of one type or another arenot new. The fact that there is a-widespread need for steady and uniformmovement-or propulsion-of'the tubular fabric over the spreader,

many inventors working in this field of endeavor are, more likely thannot, attempting to solve the problem of better control of the fabric"with a view toward guarding against slippage and the avoidance of sharpand sudden creasings of the fabric which tend \to overstretch it and tootherwise handle it ineifectually and poorly. Reference maybe made,for'example, to recognized efforts of Samuel Cohn identified inconnection with Patents 2,190,860 and 2,391,547 having to do with fabricfeeding systems and adaptations. As has been recognized inthe statedpatents guiding and feeding of the tubular fabric is such as to permitthe center portions of the flattened fabric to bedrawn aheadatafasterrate while the friction at the edges retard the side portionsand .to apply special corrective adjustment to the edges of the fabricbefore it reaches the rolls. .In the stated patents the internal rollerswhich engage the inner surface .of the fabric and which have inclinedsurfaces at each side of a central radial plane are vertically disposed.There are external 'rolls or rollers engaging the 'outer surface of thefabric opposite the internal rollers and otherappropriatestructuralachievements.

With a view toward advancing this vline :of endeavor, structuraladaptations, similar in many respects to the subject matter of theinstant invention, have been worked out by this applicant. Morespecifically reference is made to pending Serial No. 461,878 involving.the use of so-called driven type Spreaders, that is, vspreaders whichbearings on uprights in a frame structure and the journals on the upperroller are so constructed and arranged that the upper roller may bemoved :toward and from the lower roller so as to allow the :two rollersto be separated or parted and spaced :sufiiciently that the bodilyinsertable and removable spreader'device may'besreadily sandwiched andwedged between the two rollers or withdrawn and removed therefromwhenever necessary:or.desired.

With a view toward improving on similarly constructed United StatesPatent and performing'prior patented constructions and also thegenerally satisfactory and effective adaptation in Serial No. 461,878,it is desirable, as herein revealed, to appropriate a number ofstructural and functional improvements. Stated more specifically,novelty is predicated on a suitable frame structure having uprightspaired and operably supporting a first horizontally disposed roller toexteriorly contact and frictionally drive the bottom portion of 'thefabric tube. Above this and also horizontally disposed is a secondroller and this is, of course, in spaced parallelism above the firstroller and it likewise exteriorly contacts and frictionally drives thetop portion of the fabric tube. Obviously, the rollers are of a lengthmuch greater than the width of the fabric tube and means is provided forsimultaneously delivering power to and driving the rollers so that thefabric tube is propelled evenly between the adjacent surfaces of theroller at a desired speed movement. A spreader device is herein usedwhich is similar to that disclosed in Serial No. 461,878 and as beforetouched upon it is removably mounted between the adjacent cooperatingsurfaces of the first and second or top and bottom rollers. The toproller is journaled in bearings which are spring biased to normallybring the rollers into operating relationship. Mechanical means which isfoot controlled, and additional hand levers are provided at each end ofthe upper or'second roller and, being at the disposal of the machineoperator it becomes possible to lift either end of the :upper roller "orto lift the entire roller momentarily to permit uniform movement of thefabric tube and to obviate the likelihood that uneven feeding mayresult.

Structural means is provided in the present machine which makes possiblean over-feed resulting in a small =amount of shrinkage by reason of thefact that the fabric tube is not improperly stretched as it goes betweenthe rollers. By using rubber covered top and bottom rollers .the overand under-feed action desired is attained and this :is important becausein feeding and rolling-a roll of stripped fabric and where one side maybe feeding faster than the otherside, all that is necessary is to employthe aforementioned hand levers or foot control means and torelease thepressure on the over-feeding side and this allows the other side .toadvance to a point where it is readied for normal andsatisfactorycontrol and operation.

Another objectof the invention is to provide properly paired horizontalwhen in the spreader construction which cooperate with :the abovementioned first and second driven rollers and in addition to provideexteriorly .disposed side driven friction rollers which turn in ahorizontal plane on vertical axes and which contact and feedthe-cloth.in a manner to prevent drag thereon. The use of idling, so-called sidedriven, rollers often .makes undesirable marks on the fabric due to thedrag on the fabricactually pulling and imparting rotation to the guiderollers.

vAnother aspect and objective .of the instant concept .is :the provisionof a machinein which facilities are provided without an over-feedingspreader, which will roll and finish a piece of tubular fabric in oneoperation. In fact the machine is so constructed as to finish two rollsof fabric in one operation which alone promotes greater production inthe textile industry.

Another objective stated in terms of generalities is to improve upon andreduce the number of parts entering into the overall machine thereby notonly increasing the efiiciency of the structure as an-entity, but alsorendering the same less costly to manufacture, repair, and to otherwisesimplify factors of assembling, handling and use.

Other objects, features and advantages will become .more readilyapparent from the following description and theaccompanying sheet ofillustrative, but not restrictive,

drawings.

In the drawings wherein like numerals are employed to designate likeparts throughout the same:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, with portions broken away, showing atubular fabric feeding and rolling machine constructed in accordancewith the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a view looking from left to right at the structure seen inFig. 1 and taken on the irregular vertical line 3-3 of Fig. l; and

Figs. 4, and 6 are sections on the lines 44, 5-5 and 6-6, respectively,of Fig. 2.

The frame structure may, of course, vary in form. It is shown having ahorizontal top frame 8 constructed of angle irons and also angle ironcorner-positioned legs 10. The horizontal frame members 12 at the lowerportion of the frame structure serve to accommodate an electric motor 14operating a belt 16 transmitting motion to a larger pulley 18 mounted ona shaft 20 which transmits its motion to the smaller end pulley 22 andthe second belt 24 and to a pulley 26 atop the top frame 8. It is to bestated here and now, however, that While this source of power andtransmission means is illustrated in the drawings it is not to bedwelled on herein because any appropriate devices may be used totransmit motion to the featured improvements.

Reference is now made to pairs of fixedly mounted uprights 28 spacedapart and having guides 30, the uprights being connected together attheir upper ends by a bridge plate 32 centrally apertured and equippedwith a nut 34 for the screw-threaded portion of an adjusting rod 36provided on its upper end with a hand wheel 38. This rod serves toadjust the tension of the cooperating coil spring 40 connected with abearing block 42 (Fig. 4) mounted for vertical adjustment on the guides30. It is understood that this structure is duplicated at opposite sidesof the machine. Also the journals on the cooperating ends of the upperrubber-covered feed roller 44 are mounted in these bearings. The journalat one end is provided with a gear 46=enmeshed with a cooperating gear48 which gears receive motion from the aforementioned power transmissionmeans and which serve to drive not only the first or top roller but alsothe underneath horizontal spaced parallel bottom or second roller 50,this being journaled at its end in appropriate bearing means providedtherefor. Pivotally mounted on the paired uprights at the respectiveouter ends of the upper roller 44 are manually actuatable substantiallyL-shaped lift levers 52. With these levers if either lengthwise edgeportion of the tubular fabric is found to be lagging or dragging askilled operator can with the aid of the levers lift either end of theroller 44 to even up the friction drive of the fabric between therollers. Foot pedal means is also provided to accomplish somewhat thesame result. lower portions of the front legs carrying rocker arms 56 towhich vertical lifting or push rods 58 are hingedly connected as at 60(see Fig. 4). The upper ends of these rods 58 are provided with saddles62 (Fig. 3) which engage beneath the journals of the roller 44 making itpossible to lift the roller as a unit especially when it is desired topush it upwardly against the tension of the spring biased bearing blocksfor purpose of inserting and removing the fabric tube spreader device. AU-shaped member 66 with crank arms 68 serves as the pedal means forrotating the rocker shaft 55.

Not only is the lift control means for the roller 44 a significantimprovement herein, the propelling of the fabric tube 70 is prominent.The insertable and removable spreader is not only placed between therollers 44 and 50, the spreader itself assists in the driving orpropulsion result. Note for example in Fig. 2 that the spreader embodiesso-called adapters 72 connected together by a tie rod 74 and eachadapter embodies inner and outer members 76 and 78 having relativelysmall idling rollers Reference is therefore made to brackets 54 on the80 mounted therein. These rollers 80--80 are so spaced and positionedthat they cooperate with the larger upper and lower rollers 44 and 50.In other words they do the internal driving while the larger rollers 44and 50 do the external driving of the top and bottom portions of thefabric tube. The edge portions are also driven. The drive means is thesame on each side and it is believed a description of one will sufiicefor both. This drive means is characterized by a horizontally disposedrotatable disk which while it is also a roller will be referred to as atraction imparting disk 82 to assist in the description here. Withrespect to 82 and Fig. 5 the periphery of the disk acts on the marginalcrease or fold of the fabric as at 84 and presses the same firmlyagainst the cooperating rigid guide 78 of the spreader. The disk isremovably mounted on a spindle 86 threaded into a socket 88 on an endportion 90 of a supporting arm 92. The arm extends downwardly toward thefront end of the machine and beyond the front end where it is hingedlyconnected as at 94 to the yoke 96 (Fig. 3) on the upper end of atravelling bracket 98 operable on the horizontal guide rod 100 and alsoadjustable on the feed screw 102. This feed screw has left and righthand threads for the travelling brackets as is evident in Fig. 3 and onone end there is a hand wheel 104 whereby it may be turned in order toadjust the traction disks (sometimes called exterior side rollers) inrelation to the spreader guides 78. As previously mentioned these disksdo not idle but rather are actually driven. This is accomplished in theunique manner shown in Fig. 5 wherein it will be seen that theaforementioned end portion 90 of the arm is provided with an outstandingtrunnion 106 on which a rubber traction and motion transmitting cylinderor roller 108 is mounted. This is held in place by the nut 110. It is infriction driven contact with the rubber surface of the aforementionedlower roller 50. So the motion from the roller 50 is trans mitted to theroller 108 and then to the disk or roller 82 so that the latter rollingin contact with the edge 84 of the fabric tube cooperates in positivelyfeeding the fabric tube. Thus the latter is propelled by the top andbottom or upper and lower rollers 42 and 50, the interiorly disposedidling rollers on the spreader means and also the side rollers 82. Thisarrangement plus the adaptation wherein the roller 44 can be raised andlowered but is normally spring pressed into operative position providesa highly practical and satisfactory powered propulsion means feeding thefabrictube.

In addition to the means so far described reference is now made tofabric tube rolling means. Here again a series of rollers, in fact, acluster of three rollers is utilized. The lower main roller is referredto by the numeral 112 (Fig. 4) and this is suitably journaled at itsends and above it and parallel thereto is the upper main roller 114 andthese are one above the other and the journals at the ends of the roller114 are journaled in adjustable bearing blocks 116 mounted on guidesbetween the pairs of uprights 118 as perhaps best shown in Fig. 1. Hereagain there is a tensioning spring 120 and an adjusting rod 122 and ahand wheel 124 for the rod whereby to put the bearing blocks under thedesired degree of tension. These bearing blocks may be lifted too andthis is done by the hand operated levers 126 (Fig. 4) which arerotatably bracketed and mounted at 128 at opposite ends on the upperframe means. Actually 128 is a rocker shaft carrying fixed rocker arms130 hingedly connected at 132 to an upstanding link 134 at each end ofthe roller. This link is in turn joined with its cooperating bearingblock so that the roller 114 may be lifted and lowered to govern andcontrol the passage of the treated and spread fabric therebetween.Suitably arranged brackets 136 (Fig. I) serve to support the journals onthe ends of the third or what may be called the rearwardly disposedauxiliary roller 138. This makes it possible to bring the portion 140 ofthe fabric between the rollers 112 and 114 and to then train it up andover the surface of roller 138 so that it may be wound on a rolling rod142 with its end portions slidable in the angularly disposed fixedlymounted brackets or arms 144.

There may be times wherein instead of training the tubular fabric orfabric tube between rollers 112 and 114 and over roller 138, the fabricinstead will be drawn or fed rearwardly to the dotted line positionshown at 146 in 'Fig. 4. Here the free end of the fabric will be woundon the single roller 148 having its shaft portion 150 terminating injournals which are mounted for self-levelling rotation in the channels152 of the cooperating rearwardly and upwardly inclined brackets 154provided therefor. If desired these brackets may be mounted on hinges.One hinge leaf at each end is denoted at 156 and is attached to theframe structure in the manner seen in Fig. 4 and the other hinge leaf158 is fastened and held as at 160 on the upper end of a fixed post 162.

As was mentioned at the introductory portion of the description of thedetails, it seems unnecessary to specifically describe the specialarrangement of gears, pulleys and belts which serve to transmit motionfrom the motor to the forward feeder and fabric propelling rollers 44and I 50 and from these to the fabric moving and roll building andstoring facilities, for example, the rolled fabric 164 illustrated inFig. 4.

The operation of the machine has been touched upon in the course ofdescribing the various structural components of the over-all machine. Asfor example, the rollers 112 and 114 plus the companion auxiliary roller138 and self-levelling rod 142 just described which seem to besufiicient to clarify the operation of these several rollers and alsothe functioning of the hand levers 126 at the ends of the rocker shaft128 which are employed to lift and lower the bearing blocks'for thejournals on the ends of roller 114.

It is also evident that as the description has gone forward theselectively usable hand levers 52 at opposite ends of the forwardportion of the frame structure which lift the spring biased bearingblocks 142, have been set forth sufficiently that their operation isclear. The rocker shaft 55 with its rocker arms 56 and the lifting rods58 and foot pedal arrangement 66 appears to be sufficiently well coveredto mention that the primary purpose of this arrangement is to not onlylift the entire roller 44 in a horizontally level manner but also toassist in controlling uniform friction feeding of the fabric tube, and,more importantly, the spreading apart of the two rollers 44 and 50making it possible to insert or remove the spreader. Coming back to thespreader, however, it will be seen in Fig. 2 that the customary U-shapedspreader member 166 pilots the fabric tube while the trailing V-shapedfingers 168 serve to keep the given width uniform as the fabric tubespans the space between the forward and rearward portions of the frameand before it enters the rollers 112 and 114.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. Mechanical means for spreading, flattening and propelling tubularknitted fabric to apply weighting, sizing and for handling comprising,in combination, a lower horizontally disposed roller mounted forrotation in stationary bearings and having means whereby power ofrotation is transmitted thereto, an upper roller also horizontallydisposed and situated in parallelism directly above the lower roller sothat the fabric may be caused to pass between the adjacent cooperatingportion of said rollers, means for spring biasing the upper rollertoward the lower rollertslidably mounted, means whereby said upperroller may be lifted upwardly against the spring bias means in a commonplane from end to end or whereby either end individually may be liftedup, a spreader having adapters removably mounted between said rollers,having a U-shaped spreader member at the forward end, and guide fingersat the rearward end of the adapters, each adapter having a rigid guidemember over which the longitudinal edge portion of the fabric tubetracks, idling rollers carried by said spreader and contacting interiorportions of the fabric and disposed in a horizontal plane, and amechanically driven friction contacting horizontally disposed rotatablymounted disk at the respective longitudinal sides of'the spreader andhaving its peripheral portion in friction feeding contact with thefabric tube whereby the powered upper and lower rollers, idling rollerson the spreader, and disks collectively feed the fabric tube withrequisite constancy and uniformity and said liftable and lowerable upperroller is capable of adjustment to minimize unevenness in feed and drag.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, said disk in each instance beingjournaled on a vertical journalling pin carried on an arm, said armhaving an outstanding trunnion, a rubber roller mounted for idling onsaid trunnion and having driving contact with one surface of the diskand a cooperating adjacent surface of the lower roller.

3. Mechanical means for spreading, flattening and propelling tubularknitted fabric comprising, in combination, a frame structure, ahorizontally disposed power driven feeder roller mounted for rotation onsaid frame structure, an upper horizontally disposed feeder rollerdisposed in parallelism above the first named roller and spring biasedtoward the first named roller but shiftable away from the first namedroller so that the two rollers may be spread apart to insert or remove afabric spreader, arms adjustably mounted on said frame structure, eacharm having an upstanding journal, horizontally disposed friction feedingdisks mounted on said journals, each arm being provided with a trunnion,a rubber roller mounted for idling on said trunnion and simultaneouslycontacting the adjacent underneath side of said disk'and a tractionsurface of the first named roller.

4. Mechanical means for spreading, flattening and propelling tubularknitted fabric comprising, in combina tion, a frame structure, ahorizontally disposed power driven feeder roller mounted for rotation onsaid frame structure,an upper horizontally disposed feeder rollerdisposed in parallelism abovethe first named roller and spring biasedtoward the first named roller but shiftable away from the first namedroller so that the two rollers may be spread apart to insert or remove afabric spreader, arms adjustably mounted on said frame structure, eacharm having an upstanding journal, horizontally disposed friction feedingdisks mounted on said journals, each arm being provided with a trunnion,a rubber roller mounted for idling on said trunnion and simultaneouslycontacting the adjacent underneath side of said disk and a tractionsurface of the first named roller, a feed screw mounted for rotatableoperation on said frame structure and having a hand wheel'for turningand adjusting the said feed screw, a pair of brackets mounted foradjustment on said feed screw, there being a pair of the stated arms andthe lower ends of said arms being hingedly connected with theirrespective brackets.

5. In a machine for spreading, flattening and propelling tubularknittedfabric, a frame structure, a lower horizontally disposed rotatablymounted fabric contacting and feeding roller mounted on said framestructure, a manually regulable feed screw mounted on said framestructure, at least one bracket adjustably mounted on said feed screw,an arm hingedly attached at its lower end to said bracket, ahorizontally disposed disk mounted for rotation on a vertical axis onthe upper end of said arm, a motion transmitting roller mounted foridling between the surface of said first named roller and underneath thesurface of said disk, an upper roller disposed in parallelism andhorizontally above said first named roller and in a. plane above the topof said disk, and manually actuatable mechanical means for raising andlowering said upper roller in a plane perpendicular to the horizontalplane of said frame structure.

6. The structure defined in claim 5 and in combination, a horizontallydisposed spreader interposed removably between said upper and lowerrollers and having horizontally disposed idling rollers for contact withthe interior surface of cooperating portions of the tubular fabric, saidspreader being in the plane relative to the plane of said disk so thatthe marginal edge of the latter is cooperable with a portion of thefabric which is propelled over said spreader by Way of said upper andlower rollers.

7. Ina machine of the class described, a frame structure having upperand lower cooperating tubular fabric contacting and feeding rollers onan intake end portion of the frame structure, a second lower rollerhorizontally disposed for rotation in relatively stationary bearings, asecond upper roller paralleling the second lower roller and verticallyadjustable toward and from the same, and an auxiliary roller rearwardlyof and paralleling the second named upper roller and having itslowermost surface portion disposed in a plane slightly below the planewhere the adjacent tread surfaces of the second upper and lower rollersnormally cooperate with each other, a pair of upstanding bracketsmounted on said frame structure and having guide channels therein, and arod having its end portions mounted in the respective guide channels,said rod being adapted to permit the end of the tubular fabric which hasbeen passed between the second upper and lower rollers and trained overthe third roller to be wound and stored thereon.

8. For use in spreading, flattening and propelling tubular fabric, amachine embodying a frame structure, a horizontally disposed lowerroller mounted for rotation on said frame structure in a manner toexteriorly contact and frictionally drive a cooperating bottom portionof the fabric, an upper roller in spaced parallelism above the lowerroller and likewise horizontally disposed and extending transverselyacross the fabric to exteriorly contact and frictionally drive thecooperating top portion of the fabric, means for powering andsimultaneously driving said rollers so that the fabric is propelledbetween their adjacent cooperating surfaces at the desired speed ofmovement, foot controlled means on said frame structure for bodilyraising said upper roller and lifting it to a position spaced above thelower roller sufficient to allow the insertion of a removable spreader,and a removable spreader sandwiched between said rollers, a pair ofindividually operable manually usable levers supported on said framestructure and having end portions operatively connectable with therespective end portions of said upper roller and permitting said upperroller to have either end raised in a manner to permit regulation andcontrol of the respective longitudinal edge portions of said fabric,said upper roller being provided with journals, said frame structureembodying uprights having spring biased vertical sliding bearing blocksmounted thereon, said journals being journaled for rotation in theirrespective bearing blocks, said levers being substantially L-shaped andhaving lower end portions hingedly mounted and operatively connectedwith their respective bearing blocks so that the latter may be pried andcaused to slide upwardly against the tension of their coacting springs,said spreader being provided with longitudinal rigid guide membersagainst which the longitudinal creased portions of the tubular fabricslide, and a horizontal exteriorly arranged disk driven from the lowerroller, turnable on a vertical axis in a horizontal plane and havingfriction driving contact with the portion of the fabric moving inrelation thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS485,465 Gustafson Nov. 2, 1892 2,190,860 Cohn Feb. 20, 1940 2,211,838Riggs Aug. 20, 1940 2,583,630 Chatfield Jan. 29, 1952

